Neighborhood countries like Paraguay and Venezuela will deal with the effects of illegal codes. MiningA man has been arrested in Brazil's state of Rio de Janeiro on suspicion of sucking up off-grid power to mine cryptocurrency.
The incident occurred in the Freguesia region of Governor d'Or Island, an island in the northern part of the state. According to communications from local police, officers have discovered several high-performance machines used in digital mining, with electricity in the home and no meters indicating illegal theft.
The property was rented exclusively for cryptocurrency mining operations, according to police, and mining activities took place 24/7. The suspect's perpetrator was arrested for power theft.
Electrical theft is not legal, but grassroots code mining itself is legal in Brazil. However, the country's ruling party, the Workers' Party, is currently promoting mining to be limited to regulated, approved entities that have received digital miner approval licenses.
Other similar cases have been born in the country's capital of Sao Paulo in recent months, with local police announces official crackdowns.
Illegal Crypto Mining Around the World
In recent years, legal and illegal code mining has been taking off in South America. In May 2023, Venezuela announced an initiative to shut down illegal miners operating in the country.
Meanwhile, Paraguay has attempted to break the country's illegal mining operations by announcing the proposed ban in April 2024. The country's state-owned utility company claimed it lost $60 million due to this type of power theft.
However, illegal mining operations have consistently manifested around the world. Malaysia has reported a 300% spike in this type of activity since 2018. An incident occurred this year in the country from Thailand to Kuwait. And this week, Hong Kong police arrested two men on suspicion of diverting electricity from nursing homes for disabled people to mine codes.
